A Second Chance to Make or Break: a Rewrite
by inusgirllovesmonkeys
Summary: This is a rewrite of a story found on my profile, with pretty much the same name. What do you get when you mix an accidental wish or two, one hot headed martial artist, a shape-shifter or three, and some time travel? A whole lot of trouble. Ranma and Akane are quick to find that out. Rated T Canonical pairings.
1. Aftermath, After School

**I'm rewriting this story. My writing style has changed, yet again, but this idea still intrigues me. Also I, and several kind reviewers, noticed an abundance of spelling, grammar, and paragraph mistakes. I'm taking the time to look through what is written and fix this. Also, I thank the ones that reviewed, favorite, and alerted the original version of this story, apologize for the wait, and hope you will enjoy this.**

**I don't own Ranma 1/2**

**A Second Chance to Make or Break: a rewrite**

Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo, both seventeen years of age, are about to go on the weirdest journey of their young lives (and they've been on some pretty weird journeys). Our young heroes are currently headed off to school, and well…they seem to arguing.

Ranma Saotome glared at his fiancée as he ran across the thin railing.

"Why d'ya have ta be so uncute all tha time?" he grumbled.

Contrary to what he was saying, Ranma found Akane Tendo to be _very _cute, possibly pretty sometimes, and on the occasion, to be positively beautiful. He would never have the courage to tell her this though, as his dear ol' _dad,_ and Ranma used that term loosely, had basically made him suppress any sort of emotion for the first sixteen years of his life. This didn't stop the fact and feeling, however, that Ranma was very much in love with her.

Since the event of Saffron and the wedding that had occurred shortly after, Ranma and Akane had attempted to stop their constant fighting. This proved to be very difficult. Ranma still had an abundance of 'fiancées' running around (plus the occasional insane Kuno) and Akane was still extremely jealous. Jealousy plus Akane usually equaled to fighting, her mallet, and the use of hurtful insults between the two of them. Akane still did not know the true identity of her little 'P-Chan', and as such, still insisted on sleeping with him whenever he showed up; this in turn made Ranma exceptionally angry. And this too would lead to fighting. However, this had been happening a lot less as of late and Ranma suspected that Ryoga's girlfriend Akari had a hand in it. He felt grateful for her.

"Hey, are you even listening to me?"

Ranma snapped out of his thoughts, and realized that he had stopped walking. Akane had jumped up onto the fence in front of him and pierced him with a withering glare that would have made a weaker man cower. Ranma, however, didn't even notice the ice in her eyes; he was too busy noticing the fact that she was at a dangerous height. One wrong move and it would be into the canal with her. He didn't want to risk it.

Another change the appearance of Saffron had brought was the constant need for Ranma to protect Akane. Having already been doing that already, Ranma had basically turned into a mothering hen whenever she so much as scraped her knee.

"Get off the fence, it dangerous!"

Ranma moved as if too remove her, but Akane wasn't going to give up easily.

"You do it daily," she pointed out.

"I also have been training for a better part of fifteen years," he argued, "while you've gone to school every day of your life and get good grades."

She scowled at him.

"Well if I don't practice I'll never be able to do it, will I?"

He huffed, but said nothing else. As she began to cautiously make her way across, he monitored her movements, and was surprised to find that, aside from being a little wobbly, she was successful. It irked him a bit. It had taken him a year of training to get his balance to perfection, and here she was getting it on her first try. Then it hit him.

"This isn't your first time practicing with your balance, is it?"

She laughed a sweet tinkling sound that made Ranma go weak at the knees.

"Of course not, and you already knew that. Given the fact that it was how I broke my leg at that time," she said, jumping down from the fence. The two were nearing the school.

He smacked his forehead as he joined her on the ground.

"Oh yeah, how could I forget, since it was my fault and all," he grumbled, angry at his momentary stupidity.

Akane shook her head. "It was not your fault, so don't go blaming yourself."

"Wasn't my- what d'ya mean it wasn't my fault?! I caused that flash that distracted you and-"

"Idiot. Hiroshi and Daisuki explained the entire thing later. You were trying to protect me," she said, smiling.

He rubbed the back of his head and opened his mouth to retort when they heard the familiar, and heart-stopping scary, yell of "Nihao Ranma!"

Shampoo had arrived on the scene. Out of the corner of his eye, Ranma noticed the smile drop from his fiancée's face and she scowled. Ranma wasn't too happy about the arrival of the Amazon either. He grimaced as the ample and curvy woman glomped him.

"Airen go on date with Shampoo now, yes?"

Ranma practically growled as he ripped himself from her grip.

"No Shampoo I'm _not_ going ta go on a date with you, and for the last time I'm _not _your Airen!"

He stalked away from her, pointedly ignoring her angry and hurt look, and went to catch up with Akane, who had walked ahead. As he came up behind her, she increased her pace. He rolled his eyes and the two raced into the school, paying no mind to the mysterious absence of Kuno.

Akane did not speak with Ranma for the rest of the school day, which he spent trying to figure out what the heck he'd done wrong.

He scowled as she ignored the note he had flicked at her ear for the umpteenth time.

"Akane, hey Akane," he whispered. The scowl on her face deepened but she made no move to address him, instead focusing even more upon their teacher.

~oOo~

"What the hell is your problem?!"

The two were on their way home. Ranma, losing all patience for her silence, cornered Akane against the fence.

"I don't know what you mean," she sniffed, turning her head from him.

He growled.

"Dammit Akane I thought we were going to stop this! I can't fix whatever the hell I've done wrong unless you tell me what it is! I can't read your mind, though I wish I could sometimes, it'd make it a hell of lot easier to figure you out!"

Neither of them heard the faint cackle in the distance; too busy glaring at each other.

"If this is about this morning Akane-"

"This is about our entire _life_ Ranma! If we don't resolve this, we could end up in our twenties, married, and still have that Chinese bimbo barging in on us demanding that you marry her, or, heaven-forbid, stealing one of our _children _to raise in her village."

He heard the anguish in her voice, saw the tears beginning to sparkle in her eyes, but he only zeroed in on two things.

"You really want to get married, have a child, with me?" he asked, his eyes lighting up slightly.

She blushed.

"Well," she mumbled, "I understand if you don't want to marry me, but the same principal applies to Uky-"

"I'd _love_ to marry you!"

The moment he'd said it, Ranma had clapped a hand over his mouth, furious with himself at the slip. Ever since the blunder before the failed wedding, Ranma had been trying to watch what he said. So far…there was no success.

She grinned widely and slipped by him, tugging on his arm.

"Let's go home," she said, not letting go of his arm. He blushed but didn't protest and the two made their way home, one contemplating the mood-swings of women, the other cheering herself on the success she'd made.

They made it home without any more incidents, just in time for dinner.

Akane's mood quickly dropped. You could have cut the tension at the table with a knife. All eyes were trained on the to-be-wed couple as they silently ate their food. Finally Akane snapped.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," she yelled, standing up. "_Don't_ you dare Nabiki, that was sarcasm," she added, when her sister had pulled her camera out.

"Thanks for the meal Kasumi, it was wonderful. C'mon Ranma lets go spar. "

She pulled him out by the ear, ignoring his protests,

"-but I haven't even finished my rice!"

The rice in question quickly vanished into the mouth of a happy panda.

In the dojo Akane faced a strangely flustered Ranma and took up a fighting stance.

"Fight me," she ordered.

He looked thoughtful for a second, a look that Akane thought looked completely foreign on his face, before he agreed, shocking her completely.

At first, like was usual; he avoided her attacks and didn't go offensive at all. However, when Akane growled out, "Hit me!" he gave a little smirk.

"If you insist," he said simply.

And his fists, whenever they came in contact with parts of her, which was very often, would lightly tap her. While very small, this was progress from not hitting at all. She thought back to all the times she had practically begged him to spare with her and realized how great an improvement this was.

The two fought like a dance, hitting and blocking and they did not grow tired for a long while. After about an hour Akane saw what she assumed to be an opening, a very rare occurrence, and impulsively took it. He took her by surprise and set her softly to the floor.

He poked her. "I win," he said, smirking that annoyingly irresistible smile of his.

Akane was breathing heavily, but managed a smile. "Well, that _was_ fun."

"Yeah," he agreed, "and you've gotten better."

She looked up in surprise. "Have I?"

He nodded and she grinned widely, launching herself at him in a hug. They landed in a heap.

"Ranma-""-Akane," they whispered in unison.

They sat up.

"Sorry," she mumbled. He didn't look at her.

"It's fine."

They sat silently like that for a while, cautiously giving the other glances when they thought they weren't paying attention.

"I wish we hadn't messed things up in the beginning," Ranma said suddenly.

"What d'you mean?" she asked.

"Well I was pretty happy when you asked ta be friends, since as you know I didn' have many friends growing up. That's why I was hesitant to tell you I was a boy; since I heard you say you couldn't stand losing to one of them. And then when you did figure out I was a boy and began to freak out over it, I was a bit hurt, which led ta me insulting you, which led ta you hating me even more."

"Which led to even more mistrust and misunderstandings," Akane finished.

"Sometimes I wish we were able to fix them," Ranma grumbled.

This time the couple _did_ hear the cackle. The two watched as silvery mist filled the room and a voice boomed,

"I have heard your wishes and will grant them! Through the bounds of time and space; you will go back, and erase the mistakes!"

They disappeared in a flash.

~Fin~

**Well that's one chapter rewritten. Only chapter 2 and then it will be all new things.**

**I'd like it if you reviewed and told me what you think of this version. Please and thank you!**

**~inusgirllovesmonkeys**


	2. Back to the Beginning of us

**Thank you so much for the reviews, alerts, and favorites! **

**Chapter 2 is here! **

**Do I sound too excited to you? Hehe…**

**Annnnnyway, I don't own Ranma, I have never owned Ranma, and I never **_**will **_**own Ranma…sadly.**

**Ranma: Thank God!**

**Shut your pie hole Ranma. I do however; own the Spring of Dead Man, which was created for the purpose of this story.**

**Thank you**

* * *

It was the strangest thing Ranma had ever felt in his life…And he'd felt some pretty odd things! Aside from the feeling of being without a body, he also felt as though his very soul was being twisted and molded into something new.

It was very unsettling. And just as quickly as it happened…it stopped.

Ranma's body fell with a _flump_ onto a soft grassy ground. He stood up to take in his surroundings: Ranma was in a meadow filled with wild flowers, the sky was cloudless, and there was a cool breeze floating past him leisurely. He was instantly on guard.

Cautiously he moved forward a bit and called Akane's name. What happened next surprised him even more, Akane's voice answered…_inside his head!_

"R-Ranma?"

She sounded timid, fearful, and utterly alone. So very unlike her brazen tomboy act she put on. Ranma wished he could take whatever was making her that way and make it go away…then he realized what a sap he was being and promptly told himself to shove it.

"Where are you Akane?" he asked, peeling his eyes for any signs of his fiancée. No such luck.

"I'm not really sure…It looks like our house, but there isn't a sign of anyone anywhere. It's completely empty."

"It must have been that person…the one cackling," Ranma mused. "Strangely enough it reminded me of the old hag.*"

There was a pop.

"Who're you calling an old hag?"

Ranma jumped a foot in the air and he heard Akane squeak in surprise.

"W-who are you? _What_ are you?" Akane asked nervously.

"I am a Kami, one who has overseen your lives. I have watched the two of you as your destinies met, intertwined, and became one."

"B-became one!" Ranma spluttered, "What do ya mean by that?!"

"I do not answer, only inform," the Kami said calmly.

"That didn't even make any since," Ranma grumbled.

The Kami ignored him.

"Your lives took a very dark turn when you met with Saffron," they continued.

Ranma's face darkened considerably at her words.

"You might very well have died on that mountain, and it worried us all. So many mistakes were made, not just by you humans, but by we the Kami's too. However we could not send you back to rectify your situation without reason. Be glad it happened through wishing children…the only other way is terribly gruesome and…just be glad. **"

There was a long and uncomfortable silence following the Kami's words.

"So when will we be arriving?" Akane finally asked tentatively, breaking the peculiar mood.

"You'll see," said the Kami with a smile in their voice.

"H-hey wait a sec-"

Another flash…and everything around them was gone.

* * *

_Beep…Beep…Beep…_

A hand groped the bedside table and slammed into the alarm clock. The beeping stopped and a woman rose from her bed.

"A dream?" she asked the air. She patted her short blue-black hair.

Tentatively she walked out her door and stopped outside the furo, biting her lip. If…if it hadn't been a dream, then her hair, why was it still short?

Well, she had a way to find out the truth…

"Okay, let's go," she encouraged herself, before walking into the furo.

She quickly rid herself of her clothes and stepped onto the cool tile, facing the wall length mirror. If she was in the past, then _it_ probably wouldn't be there. She felt around her smooth torso, looking for a ridge she knew would be there. She felt her side…_there!_ There was the scar that told the story of mount Phoenix and her transition into a doll and back again.

Shortly before the failed wedding, she'd noticed it. The scar had been in the shape of a phoenix, scaring her into speaking with Cologne to ask about what it meant. Cologne hadn't known and had spoken with the Jusenkyo Guide. He had spun a tale of great romance and tragedy (which, in retrospect she probably should have expected).

_Flashback:_

"_Five hundred years ago, was very tragic love story," the Chinese man began. "Man and woman very much in love but forced to pretend to hate. Man fight Saffron too, just like Honored Guest. Woman go to protect man who was very sick at time, she turn into doll too. That how I know to look for Honored Female Guest."_

_He gave a nod in Akane's direction._

"_Man fight Saffron and he almost win, but when get water for woman, he fall into 'Spring of Dead man', has tragic tale of dead man who drown there eight hundred years ago-"_

"_How did he- Wait never mind, I don't think I want to know," Akane said, rubbing her head._

"_But woman live and have scar from transformation. Scar in shape of phoenix. However she sees her dead love and she so sad, she kill herself. Saffron think highly amusing and he pour warm water on man and he not dead anymore. But he all alone and he sad, so he let Saffron kill him. Is very tragic." _

"_But why is it shaped like a phoenix?" Akane asked, her brow furrowing at the story. It sounded sort of familiar._

"_Is sign of rebirth and great love," the guide said. "You saved by Honored Guest, who very much in love with you. Said so himself when he thought you was dead. That why."_

_Akane turned pink and hid a smile._

_End flashback._

'Ah, so I _did_ say it out loud,' came a voice from Akane's mind.

She squeaked. "R-Ranma, what are you doing in my mind?"

'I dunno. Erm Akane, not ta be rude or anything, but could ya ah…cover up or something?'

Akane turned red.

"Pervert," she hissed, closing her eyes and walking to the door.

'It's not my fault,' he wailed, 'that old Kami did somethin' funny ta us. And it's not as though I could _ignore_ it!'

Akane ran into the wall. She cursed quietly and opened her eyes, rubbing her head. Careful to not look down, Akane stepped into the changing room and quickly donned a bathrobe.

"Okay, what the heck is going on here?" Akane growled.

'_That would be my doing,_' came a familiar voice.

"Kami-Sama," Akane said in surprise.

'What did you do to us and how can we stop it?' Ranma growled.

'_Ah, patients my children,'_ the gravelly voice said in a misty tone. '_It is only temporary. On the fifth day, when the two lovers are destined to meet for the first time again, the spell will break_'

"L-lovers!" Akane exclaimed as quietly as she could.

'We ain't no lovers Kami,' Ranma growled.

The Kami snickered.

"Is this all a big joke to you?" Akane asked angrily.

'_Well it is quite humorous and, being an immortal kami, you must get your kicks where you can get them. However, no, this is not 'all a big joke' to me. You will just have to live with this until Ranma arrives at the Tendo Dojo.'_

Akane felt it was as good a time as any to ask. "Kami-Sama, I don't look any different. My hair is still short and I still have a certain scar on my torso I got really recently. Why?"

She swore that she felt Ranma blush at the mention of the scar. He gave a nervous giggle. "Oh shut up you pervert."

'_While I am powerful, I can only do so much. You are indeed in your same bodies. There isn't much I can do about that.'_

Akane could have sworn she felt Ranma shrug. 'That's fine with me; that just means I'm not going to deal with that hair thing. Or relearn those attacks.'

He sounded smug and she rolled her eyes. "Back onto the previous subject, I don't think I'll be able to handle having this moron ('Hey!' Ranma said reproachfully.) in my head twenty-four/seven. I'll go insane!"

'Well, being in your head ain't all sunshine and daisies either,' Ranma grumbled.

Akane wished he was here so she could hit him with her mallet. She scowled and straightened up. "Please Kami-Sama, isn't there anything you can do?"

The Kami sighed. _'I suppose,' they said. _

Behind her eyes there was yet _another _flash of light.

'What did that do?' she heard Ranma ask. 'Besides give me a headache?'

'_Now children, only purposeful thoughts and unconscious ones will be heard by the other. That is all I am willing to do.'_

The Kami gave a sigh.

'_I will be going now children. We will speak again.'_

It was as though the line had gone dead.

"We'll just have to deal with this," she finally sighed. "Now get out of my head so I can shower. And if you think any perverted thought on that, _I will know._"

Her voice came out as a growl.

He gulped. 'R-right…well I'm just gonna go wake Pops now…uh…bye.'

He seemed to cut off from her and she gave a sigh of relief. Alone, _finally._

She stripped off the robe and headed back into the furo.

* * *

Ranma gave a heavy sigh and stood, glancing over at his father's cursed form with distaste.

"Better go wake Pops," he grumbled, walking over to the panda rumbling with snores. "OI! _Pops, _wake up!" He kicked him roughly in the side.

"Growf," the panda grunted, pulling itself into a sitting position and glaring at him. They both quickly fell into fighting stances.

Ranma smirked coldly at his father. Pay back was a bitch that his father was _not _going to enjoy.

Oh god, he hoped Akane hadn't heard him think that.

His father came at him. Ranma fought with ease, dodging and blocking at just the right moments. Then he went for the kill.

His father was on the ground in moments.

"Haaa," he sighed. "That was so easy, it wasn' even fun. Wow Pops, you'd think I had a year of training on you or something."

He hid a snicker, making his way over to the long dead fire. Behind him, he heard his father growl.

"Oh quite yer whining, I'm making you some hot water. Least you could do is be grateful for it."

The panda was silent.

Finally, when the water was boiled (and Ranma had made sure it was _extra _hot), he stalked over to Genma and poured it on his head. The older man yelped as he transitioned from animal to…just above an animal. Studying him, Ranma didn't see all that much difference.

"Jeez boy, not that hot next time!"

Ranma scoffed. "Yer not really in a position to make requests old man. You got us into this fucking mess in the first place."

"For the sake of training," Genma said in false reproach. "Were you not prepared to give your life for-"

Ranma waved him off. "Yeah yeah, you hear one excuse, you hear them all. I'm not in the mood to listen to yer bull."

He rose from where he had been crouching beside his father and looked at the horizon. He had a hunch he knew where they were, and it was beginning to fill him with slight dread. "Now, yer gonna go catch our breakfast, while I scout ahead."

His father opened his mouth to complain, to which Ranma shot him a glare he'd learned from his mother. Genma shivered and snapped his mouth shut.

"And if you run off while I'm gone I'll turn you into a pretzel."

God, he grumbled, stalking off, he was beginning to sound like his father.

'You're not _nearly _as bad as him.'

He gave a startled jump. "Jeez Akane give a little warning next time."

Akane gave a little scoff, but her voice quickly turned serious. 'What's our game plan?'

"Game plan?"

'If you were any denser, I'd be talking to a piece of lead,' she sighed. 'I _meant, _we've been given a chance to fix a great deal of mistakes in our life. I wanted to know if there was a certain way you planned on going about this.'

"Can't this wait until I get there?" he moaned, his shoulders slouching. "I don' really wanna plan nothin' right now."

'We'll never get a moments peace to plan anything if we wait until you get here. Do you not remember the past year and a half?'

"Yeah, okay, I get it," he grumbled. "Well… let's start with-"

He cut himself off, a horrible shiver running across his spin. There, across the very lake he was about to step into, was Shampoo. He cursed loudly as he stumbled and tripped into the water. The change effected the now female immediately.

Her hunch had been correct, it seemed. Why, oh why did the fates allow _now _of all times for her to be correct?

She could only hope that she was in a time _before _they had reached the Amazon village, because she was coming her way.

Couldn't anything ever go smoothly for her?

~Chapter 2 end~

**Well that's it for this chapter**

**Notes (this is so I avoid using A/Ns in the middle of the chapter):**

***Old Hag as in Cologne. But I'm sure you already knew that.**

****I'm referencing the other Ranma-Character-Goes-Back-in-Time-to-Fix-Things-stories I've read. Many times, their time traveling comes to be because they died or came close to dying.**

**So from here on out, it's pretty much going to be new stuff! Once Ran-Chan meets the Old Ghoul anyway! ^u^ **

**Special thanks to my awesome Beta, Detective Pichu! :D**

**Please review! **


	3. Shampoo, Rinse, and Repeat

**A/N: Two things you should know: One, updates are not going to come as fast as the first two came. If I'm lucky, I'll update about two, to three or four times a month. Two, parentheses were the way I decided to go with the language barriers; at least for Chinese. I'll come up with something else if it comes down to needing other languages.**

**If I owned Ranma 1/2, I would have made sure that they finished the anime. I would also be very rich and Japanese. I am neither of those things, so I obviously don't own it. **

**Chapter 3: Shampoo, Rinse, and Repeat**

Ranma couldn't breathe. She stared up into Shampoo's face, which looked surprised. Ranma hoped that meant they hadn't met yet.

(Are you alright?) Shampoo asked in her native tongue, holding out a hand. (I'm Xian Pu; it's nice to meet you.)

"Sh-Shampoo…"

Inwardly, Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. Shampoo didn't know who she was. She grinned. What an opportunity to lose a fiancée she didn't want!

'As long as you don't botch this up,' Akane commented, sounding slightly huffy. Ranma ignored her pointedly.

Her Chinese was a little spotty, but Ranma chanced speaking. (Hello Shampoo, I am Ranma.)

Shampoo looked delighted. "Oh you are foreigner! Shampoo test her Japanese out on you, Ranma!"

Ranma grabbed her hand and stood up.

"Shampoo take you to her village in mountains called Nyucheizu?" she asked. "Can get food and warm clothes there."

Well…she _was _pretty hungry. And the chances that her father hadn't already consumed whatever he'd caught were slim to none. She grinned. Double prize; no Amazon fiancée and a free dinner. Sounded good to her!

'Must you always think with your stomach?' Akane grouched.

'Well, _somebody _didn't let me finish my rice,' she thought pointedly. She turned to Shampoo. "I'd like ta come to yer village Shampoo. But, I've left my pops over on that hill over there." She pointed behind her shoulder, to where Ranma was sure he was sulking. "I'm not all too fond of him right now, but if I just leave 'im there, he's sure ta cause lots of trouble."

Shampoo shrugged. "If he know his place in world, he can stay. He no know, he no can stay. Ranma understand?"

Ranma bit her lip. "It might be a little hard to convince him. I've been to Nyucheizu once before, so I'm aware of most of the rules, but he's careless, so even if I explain them to 'im, he's probably gonna act out sooner or later."

Shampoo grinned maliciously. "Can stay in animal pin if he too too bad."

Slowly a maniacal smile came to the red head's face. "Actually, I think I can make that work…"

Several thousand miles away, in a district of Japan, Akane sat in her bedroom listening in on the plan between the two girls. She too had a grin on her face. She may not have like Shampoo, but she of all people knew how sly she could be. Genma should take what he deserved.

"Akane-Chan," came a sweet voice from downstairs, "You need to get up now, before you're late."

Akane started. "K-kay," she called down nervously.

That's right! She was going to be all her old classes again. She had to stifle a groan of annoyance. It was going to be _unbelievably _boring relearning everything. She was smart, dammit! They had been too easy for her last year, but now she was going to be expected to simply _go _with all her knowledge without complaint_?_

Though…it would probably be big help to Ranma, who didn't have many learning experiences on the road, and as such, had almost flunked out of last year.

'Oi,' came Ranma's voice reproachfully.

Akane giggled, but her expression suddenly went deadly serious.

"I'm going to have to deal with 'Tendo Akane's fan club' again," she groaned.

Just what she needed; one of the many objects of her nightmares, come back to haunt her.

…

Had she just thought that unconsciously?

The grim turn Ranma's thoughts had taken assured her of that. 'Aka…ne.'

Damn…

"Akane-Chan?"

Kasumi knocked on the door. "You have to leave in five minutes or you're going to be late," she reminded gently through the wood.

"Yes Kasumi-Oneechan."

She heard her sister leave.

'If you value your life, you're going to pretend you didn't hear that,' she thought.

Ranma's currently feminine sounding thoughts sounded hesitant. 'A-Akane…I-You should-Well I-'

Ranma heaved a heavy mental sigh. 'Just know that you're not alone on this, kay? I know it ain't gonna be easy going through the past year again; Hell, sometimes it might be torture! But, the main thing is-what I'm trying to say is-'

Akane's eye caught the time on the clock and she yelped, interrupting whatever Ranma had been trying to say. "Aaah!" she moaned. "I'm gonna be late!"

Barely pausing to grab her bag, she rushed down the stairs and out the door. She didn't even stop to say goodbye to Kasumi.

She wasn't quite ready to face her eldest sisters' reaction to her 'new' hair.

As she raced down the road, Akane thought back to the conversation she just had. "What was it you wanted to say to me Ranma?"

Ranma sighed. 'Forget it, it's not important. I-I have to go, we're at the village.'

"Ranma-hey wai-"

The red haired boy turned girl was gone from her head. Akane stood there for a moment, then gave a dismissive shrug. "Oh well…"

And she raced toward the school.

Ranma breathed out as soon as the connection between them was gone. Honestly, she didn't know whether to be disgruntled that she was interrupted before she could finish, or relieved that she hadn't had to.

(We've arrived Ranma,) Shampoo said.

Ranma looked up at the familiar village of the Joketsuzoku. Last she had been here, she remembered, had been right after their fight with Saffron. They had stayed there only long enough to regroup and go home.

But it had been long enough for Ranma to actually observe the customs and culture. She wouldn't be eating any celebratory food platters this time. That was for sure.

She looked down at her, surprisingly, still knocked out father turned panda (who had taken a beating a la Ranma). Shampoo hadn't really been too surprised to find out Genma was cursed. "Failure deserve curse. From what Ranma told Shampoo, panda is failure."

Ranma had suddenly felt a surge of compassion for the purple haired girl. Not in the lovey-dovey sense, the way past-Shampoo would have wanted it, but like…like Ranma thought Shampoo might've been a good sister in another life; a homicidal manic probably, but a good sister none the less.

The red haired girl observed the people of the village as they all peeked out of their huts, or stopped whatever they were doing to stare at her. Ranma guessed that it had probably been a very long time since they had seen a foreigner. She smiled at them nervously, anxious to not fudge up too badly like she had before.

Shampoo pointed out different land marks to her, telling the history of each one; all the while switching between Chinese and broken Japanese. Any people who had the guts to run up to the duo were introduced. Lipstick, Nailpolish, Eyeliner, Conditioner….She felt as though she was being introduced to a cosmetics store.

"And this, is little sister, Rinse," Shampoo said proudly, her hand on the shoulder of a girl who couldn't have been more than six. The child waved shyly.

She had a sister? Ranma couldn't help feeling slightly shocked at not knowing this. But then, she thought, it wasn't as though she knew all there was to know about her previous fiancées.

"Rinse successor for village if Shampoo cannot," the purple haired girl said. "Now," she looked down at Rinse, "Rinse go train with cousin Conditioner, yes?"

Rinse nodded cheerfully and sprinted off.

"We see other family later. Is father, Gel, mother, Hairspray, and great-grandmother, Cologne. Mother is carrying third child, Repeat. "

Shampoo, Rinse, and Repeat? Their names were one bad pun! But Ranma didn't mention this to Shampoo, for once not sticking her entire foot in her mouth.

Instead, she said, "That's nice Shampoo. I wish I could'a had a large family like yers."

For a moment, Ranma could've sworn a look of hurt had crossed Shampoo's face. Then she blinked and it was gone. The Chinese girl gave a large grin. (Now, after we drop your father off in the animal pin, we're going to go get some dry clothing and food for you. You must be very hungry.)

As if on cue, Ranma's stomach growled loudly. Shampoo giggled. "Animal pin this way."

Ranma followed her down to an area secluded from the rest of the village, where an animal pin was set up. She was actually rather surprised at the small amount of animals.

"I woulda thought that there'd be a lot'o livestock, with how many people there are in yer village," she said, casually dropping her father over the fence.

"Is right after we do yearly butcher," Shampoo stated.

Oh…

"Now we go to Shampoo's house for food and clothes!"

Grabbing Ranma by the hand, Shampoo ran off in the direction of her house.

When she had come to the school that day, already dreading it, Akane hadn't thought to be worried about everyone's reactions to her hair. And she hadn't taken into account that, once she had turned seventeen, she'd gotten fairly bustier.

The chaos known as Kuno and Tendo Akane's Fan club ensued.

Once she had beaten them into a severely grinded pulp, she made her way to her old classroom. Early.

Yuka came up to her. "Hi Akane! I like your new hair."

Akane smiled nervously. "Thanks, everyone's been acting really weird over it."

'Especially since they didn't react like this the first time,' she thought.

"What do you expect?" Sayuri asked, coming up behind the two. "You've been growing your hair out since you were six!" Her voice lowered. "What about Dr. Tofu?"

Aside from Ranma, Yuka and Sayuri were the only two to know about her previous crush on Dr. Tofu.

Akane gave an unconcerned shrug. "Oh, I got over him ages ago. He's in love with Kasumi, it's obvious."

The teacher came in at that time, cutting off any chance of continued conversations.

Akane had been right about the easiness of repeating the class. She sat, bored to the point of tears, waiting for the blissful release of lunch time. When the bell finally rang, she shot out of there faster than Ranma when faced with cats.

Sayuri looked at Yuka. "What's her hurry?" she wondered.

"She wants to be first in line at the school store?" Yuka guessed. "She didn't bring a bento today."

The two shrugged their shoulders and followed after the hot headed martial artist.

~oOo~

Akane sat under the shade of her favorite tree and wondered about this entire predicament. It was odd, that was for certain. And Ranma had been right, having to go through stuff again was going to be Hell. Her first day wasn't even half over and she was already contemplating the homicide of Kuno, her fan club, and her math teacher! She gazed with bored eyes at the younger bodies of her classmates. They had no clue of the insanity that was headed for them. No clue that, in a matter of days, martial arts, destruction, and many fiancées, would become normality.

As Shampoo led her down a dirt path, Ranma contemplated the actions of the Chinese girl. She was acting a bit different than the Shampoo she remembered. She had family that the neo-female didn't remember her having. She was a lot calmer, from her stand point (meaning, she still acted insane, but not to the standards Ranma remembered.) And also, when Ranma had peeked at the other girls face, she had seen a flash of _something_. She wasn't sure what it was, but it certainly wasn't normal.

Shampoo suddenly came to a halt outside of a large hut. "This-It Shampoo's house."

Ranma, as unobservant as she was, had noticed the stutter in Shampoo's words. She had almost used correct Japanese. What was going on?

Shampoo observed the look on Ranma's face and sighed. "You've figured it out, haven't you?"

Ranma stepped back in shock.

"You always were more perceptive than people gave you credit for." The purple haired girl gave a sad smile. "It's nice to see you again Ranma."

And Ranma sank into a dead faint.

**Confused? I hope not. Yes, I've decided to bring other people from the future, to shake things up a little bit (plus, Shampoo's lack of any correct grammar was starting to grate on my nerves^_^) I've decided to give Future Shampoo a little tragic background, which will come up in the next chapter, which will account for the extra family members not mentioned in series. There will be two or three more people from the future. I won't tell you who, or when it's going to happen, but it won't be soon. **

**What did you think of my little name pun? Shampoo, Rinse, and Repeat. I thought it was pretty clever. Rinse will come up again in later chapters, so keep an eye out for her. **

**As always, review! Tell me if you liked it and if you didn't, tell me why. But, please, tell me in a nice way, I still remember Dark (Darth?) Jerkface from my first attempt at this story. **

**~inusgirllovesmonkeys**


	4. The Tragedy of Shampoo

**Prepare for a truck-load of angst. Prepare for deaths, depression, and Mousse being an asshole for wising up. So if you want to skip to the end (though I wouldn't recommend it, there's some important info) I'll summarize it **_**very **_**briefly at the bottom. I usually try to put a lot of humor into my stuff; especially since I'm trying to live up to Takahashi-sensei's work (hah, right). The chapters won't all be like this, I swear. Unfortunately this chapter, and a couple more scattered throughout will be fairly angsty. **

**(Also, if I honestly suck at writing angst, please tell me.)**

**Rinse is going to be my only gets-mentioned-in-more-than-just-passing OC. I hope you don't mind. **

**I don't own Ranma 1/2. **

**Chapter 4: The Tragedy of Shampoo, **_or_** In Which Shampoo Doesn't Know What She Has Until it's Gone**

"So ya got sent back'n time too?"

Shampoo nodded, the sad smile still etched across her face. It looked completely foreign on her, Ranma decided. Then she had a thought.

"That stinkin' Kami didn' tell me an' Akane nothin' 'bout this," she grumbled. She cocked her head. "Why _did_ ya get sent back?"

The neo-neko bowed her head. "It's not a nice tale, but if you want to hear it, I'll tell you. It began the night I had vowed to find you and kill you."

_~Flashback~_

_That woman, that _woman_, she had stolen Shampoo's honor! How dare she eat her winnings, _dare _to challenge her, and have the _nerve _to humiliate her in front of her entire village. When Shampoo found her, she would-she would-_

_(Sister?)_

_Shampoo turned to face her younger sister, Rinse. The child had a pitiful look on her face. _

_(Are you truly going to leave us?) _

_Now, Shampoo and Rinse's relationship didn't go far beyond the fact that they were related by blood. Shampoo's haughty personality and coldness toward people who cared about her (see Mousse and Rinse) had brought her to believe that she was above them. She thought her sister was just a nuisance._

_But Rinse worshipped the ground she walked on._

_Shampoo gave her sibling a cold stare. (That girl stole my honor, my value in life. Now I must retrieve it with her life. That is the way our laws work. You know that.)_

_(But Great-grandmother is the leader, maybe if she talks with the other elders she can-)_

_Shampoo cut her off. (Don't you understand!? Unless I kill that woman, I will be forever shamed in our village! How will you ever become our future ruler if you are so weak minded, cowardly, spineless! Fool!)_

_She smacked the child across the face, making her fall to the floor. _

_(I don't want to see your face. Leave me, so I can pack.)_

_Rinse stood to her feet, shooting her elder sister a betrayed look, and ran from the room. _

_That would be the last time she ever saw her. _

_Months later, long before the incident at Jusenkyo, Shampoo and her grandmother received word from a messenger. There had been a battle at Nyucheizu, with many causalities. Worried, the two women returned home, only to find much of their village in ruin. _

_Shampoo's thoughts quickly turned to her family. (G-great-grandmother, where is mother, where is Rinse?) _

_The old woman, who had long been staring into space with a distressed look on her face, gazed at her granddaughter sadly. (Unfortunately, my child, they were not among the survivors. They've gone on, I'm afraid.)_

_No…This couldn't be happening! _

_A blank look on her face, Shampoo collapsed to her knees. _

_Her mother was gone. Her unborn baby brother was gone. Rinse, who had died thinking that Shampoo despised her, was gone. They were all gone. And they would never know just how much Shampoo actually loved them. _

_(Mama, Rinse. Come back. Please, I'm sorry, come back! I-I love you.)_

_That was the first time Shampoo had ever cried, and she hoped it would be her last. _

_It wouldn't be._

_Being trained as a cold-blooded warrior meant that Shampoo was very good at keeping her true emotions from springing up. She returned to Japan and acted as she always had, cheerfully insane. Whenever she felt the wall she had built around those emotions cracking, she did her best to clog them with the thought of finally receiving Ranma's affections. _

_However, after the events of Jusenkyo and the failed wedding, she slowly began to change. Although she didn't know it at the time, she was beginning to become depressed. Her chances of getting Ranma at that point were slim to none. She was no fool; she realized where his heart lied. The emotional wall had gotten to the point where there were more cracks than she could fix, unable to fill them anymore._

_Mousse's betrayal was the final straw._

_(I'm returning to Nyucheizu.) _

_The proclamation had come out of nowhere. He had stared at her coldly, a look he usually reserved for his rivals. Ranma, the Musk, people he honestly dislike. Never on her…_

_(What?) She could only look at him in confusion. (Why?)_

_He had glared at her bitterly. (I'm tired. Tired of all of this. Tired of being a slave to that old woman. Tired of trying to force something that's never going to happen. But most of all, I'm tired of you. So I'm leaving. Goodbye Xian Pu.)_

_And he had left, just like that. _

_It was the abruptness and indifferent way he had done it that had hit home for her. She…she really did ruin the lives of the people around her, didn't she? _

_Shortly after that, Shampoo stopped eating. She stopped talking and she no longer got up in the mornings. She simply lied in her bed and thought of all the lives she had ruined. Ranma, Rinse, mama, Mousse, I'm sorry…I'm so, so, sorry…If I could fix everything, anything, I would._

_She was finally admitted to the Nermia General Hospital on July 12, 1999, three years after the death of her family. Three years after the events of Jusenkyo. Two years since Mousse had left. _

_Slowly, very slowly, she got better. She no longer had to be forced to eat. She spoke on the occasion. And a week after her twentieth birthday, she smiled for the first time in two and a half years. _

_To an outsider, she was back to normal fairly quickly. She smiled and laughed like she normally had before. She actually looked pretty happy. But inside, the wall was rebuilt; emotions of pain, suffering, everything she felt, were stuffed past it, to be let out when she was alone. _

_The nightmares had started not long after she left the hospital. There were no walls to hide behind once she was asleep. Nothing, nothing, but the raw emotions and guilt she ran from in the waking world. They were all the same. It was always, always her sister, gazing upon her with accusing eyes, taunting her with silence, even as Shampoo begged and pleaded for forgiveness. Sometimes, rarely, she was joined by others she had wronged; others who she had failed; her mother, Mousse, Ranma. Always with the condemning eyes. _

_Then, out of nowhere, they suddenly changed. _

_She didn't know the actual date (having long since ceased keeping track), only that it was sometime in December. When she had fallen asleep, dreading the oncoming nightmares, Rinse had spoken._

_(Sister,) the child had whispered. (I forgive you.)_

_Shampoo had been, in all honesty, terrified. Shaking as her dead six year old sister stood before her. _

_(There's talk in the spirit world…) Rinse mumbled. (The Shénlíng's* that hold your destiny, Ranma's and Akane's, they're plotting. That's either very good, or very bad. I wished for you to be forewarned.)_

_The child bent down beside her. (They plan to send the three of you, or more, back in time.) _

_(T-time travel?)_

_Rinse looked up suddenly. (I have to leave now. Goodbye sister…)_

_She kissed her forehead, which felt like the mere brush of the wind. And then she was gone._

_Shortly after that, Shampoo had found herself in front of her Shénling. _

"_I have spoken with the ones who control destiny's intertwined with your own." It had a voice not too different from her great-grandmother. "You and I are not the only ones to have made mistakes. It is with this one chance, we can correct it. Do not fail us."_

_And she found herself four years in the past. _

_~End flashback~_

**(ANGST IS OVER)**

"And that is the story," Shampoo sighed.

Ranma sat back in shock.

"W-wow…that's really rough…I'm sorry Shampoo."

She gave a small shrug. "I have my mother and Rinse back and they know I love them. It is fine now."

It was an obvious lie, if the pain showing in her eyes gave any clue.

"And yes, you can tell Akane, I don't care."

Ranma tried to think of something to say, something to comfort her, or assure her that she had already forgiven her. But her mind was a blank…yet whirling with thoughts. It hadn't occurred to Ranma to reflect on what Shampoo might've been thinking when she had glomped her yesterday (or what felt like yesterday to her). It was hard to think about it, the harsh reality that Shampoo had painted; all the while she had acted like an inconsiderate jerk. Though, it wasn't like Shampoo had come to her, explained what she was facing. She might've understood.

Or she might've not. She wasn't exactly known for being reasonable and understanding. And if what Shampoo said was anything to go by, she wouldn't have gotten better with age. It was a depressing thought.

"Shampoo…I'm really sorry."

The young woman gave a shrug and stood up. "We should go see Grandmother."

"Why?"

Shampoo gave a quirky smile. "If someone from our village were to see an outsider preforming our techniques without a real reason, they would be hunted down and have their heads chopped off."

Ranma grinned nervously and massaged her neck. "R-right, let's got see the Old woman."

~oOo~

Akane tried her best to avoid her friends, ducking up the stairs to the roof. They seemed under the impression that she was acting odd.

She should give them more credit…They were smarter than she thought.

"Akane, are you up here?"

She grimaced as her friends came into view.

"So this is where you've been hiding," Sayuri said, her hands coming to rest on her hips.

"What's going on Akane?" Yuka asked. "You used to tell us everything."

Arghhh, they were playing _that _card on her...

…half-truth then?

"Fine, I'll tell you. But if you tell anyone, and I mean _anyone_, I will never ever forgive you."

That sat next to her, their eyes wide. "We promise," they said together.

Akane leaned in closer. "Okay, here's the thing…"

**And, chapter end…So, Shampoo's mother, sister, and unborn brother died and Moose left…Did you see that coming? Probably…**

**How are Shampoo and Ranma going to convince Cologne to help them? What did Akane tell Yuka and Sayuri? When the heck is Ranma getting back to Japan?**

**All these questions and more will be answered next time…whenever I can get off this writing block…sorry guys:P**

***_Shénlín is the same as Kami in Chinese, a god._**

******~inusgirllovesmonkeys**


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